Saturday, November 10, 2012

11. Little Red Schoolhouse: Lucy Stone

Little Red Schoolhouse

By Georgann Eglinski

In the 1820s Lucy Stone (1818-1893) of Massachusetts had
hopes of the same higher education her four older brothers had earned. While
brother Bowman was preparing for college at a nearby academy, Lucy's mother
informed her father that Lucy wanted to go to college too. His reply:"Is the child crazy?" To his daughter he said, "Your mother only learned to read, write,
and cipher: if that was enough for her, it should be enough for you." But
good enough was never enough for Lucy Stone.

Lucy's problems went beyond a stubborn father. Had she been
able to persuade him that she was just as smart as (in fact, smarter than) her
brothers, she'd have had trouble finding a challenging schoolthat would accept a girl.

Mt. Holyoke Female
Seminary in 1845,

6 years after Lucy Stone enrolled.

But by the time she was 21 her plan came together. She had saved
enough from teaching school to enroll in the new Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary
where she could receive an education equal to her brothers'. It took her until
she was 29 but she graduated from Ohio's Oberlin College, the first college to
offer degrees to women.

Lucy graduated from
Oberlin in 1847.

This photograph from
the Library of Congress

probably dates to the 1850s.

Little Red Schoolhouse

By Becky Brown

The Little Red Schoolhouse is adapted from Ruth Finley's
pattern in her 1929 book Old Quilts and the Women Who Made Them. We can use it to remember the educational policies of
Lucy Stone's and her mother's day. Girls living in post-Revolutionary-War
Boston could enroll in the public schools in the summer for two hours of
afternoon classes

What a blessing a good education is to a woman. Whether a woman wants to enter the business world or be a mother, or combine the two, a good education is necessary. I'm so glad it was relatively easy for me to obtain one in the 1900s. My mother and aunt didn't have the same college opportunities, and I know they would have surpassed anything I ever did with mine. I love this block. Thank you!

Yay for Mt Holyoke! I hold a degree in physics from MHC and this is big anniversary year for them so I just read a bunch of the early history in the quarterly! There were a lot of suffragists that attended MHC and it's earlier incarnations and the women on campus continue to be very forward thinking as far as womens' roles in society. Very proud to be a part of that legacy.

COLOR CHOICES

You may want a historic color scheme, one used in the early 20th century. In this side bar are suggestions drawn from the imagery of several prominent organizations. Click on the photo to see the colors Alice Paul used for her Suffrage Banner.

Sampler Plan & Fabric Requirements

Each week for 49 weeks I'll post a pattern for an 8" block. Click on the sampler plan to read more about yardage.

Symbolic Colors: Purple, Green & White

England's WSPU adopted this tricolor palette in 1908.Click on the picture for a post about the color scheme

Symbolic Colors: Red and White

England's NUWSS used red and white, choosing the color of rebellion. Click on the banner for a post about red and white.

Symbolic Colors: Gold

America's primary suffrage color was gold, often contrasted with black or dark violet. The shade is close to the yellow-orange we see in 19th-century quilts, the color the dyers called chrome orange and we call cheddar. Click on the picture to see a post on gold.

Symbolic Colors: Green, Gold and White

Australian suffragists adopted the colors of the Women's Freedom League: Green, gold and white.

The Blocks Come From BlockBase

My digital program for PC's is the source for the names and the designs.Each week you'll get a BlockBase number for reference. Click on the box for more information.

Votes For WomenPrint from Spoonflower.com

I've designed a commemorative print in yellow or purple. Click on the picture to see my Material Culture store at Spoonflower.com

Ideas for Shop Owners

See this post for ideas on how to link to this blog for kits, clubs and classes.

Suffragettes or Suffragists?

We'll use the term Suffragist, a general term for people campaigning for women's right to vote---women's suffrage. In 1906 English newspapers began using the term Suffragette to refer to the militant Women's Social and Political Union. WSPU members were thus Suffragettes, everyone else a Suffragist. Click on the picture to read more at the Museum of London website:

A BUTTON

I can't figure out the button thing. But you can copy this image to a gadget on your blog and link to the address in the bar at the top:grandmotherschoice.blogspot.com